


So, What Are We?

by nilbog



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: High School, M/M, Mostly Matchablossom, On-Again/Off-Again Relationship, Teen matchablossom, VERY faint Adam/Cherry, post-episode 9
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29891046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nilbog/pseuds/nilbog
Summary: Based off of the flashback in episode 9 - Joe and Cherry are "together" but they're not putting a label on it. Adam enters the picture, Joe gets jealous.
Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom, Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom & Shindo Ainosuke | Adam
Comments: 12
Kudos: 163





	So, What Are We?

It didn’t take long for Joe to become jealous. They weren’t even dating, technically. They were “open,” or something. Cherry changed his excuse every time. Joe was fine with it, he supposed. The custodian closet quickies between (usually during) classes were worth putting up with whatever bullshit Cherry was otherwise on. 

But ever since Adam had joined the picture, Joe couldn’t stop himself from thinking of the myriad ways he’d like to beat that guy into a pulp. It didn’t start out that way though.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen somebody on your level,” Joe said, lounging on Cherry’s bed, watching him pull his long hair out of its ponytail. “Besides me, of course,” he added. From the mirror, Cherry could see Joe’s grin, which caused him to throw the brush he’d been using directly at his stupid face.

Joe dodged and sat up, pulling himself to sit on the edge of the bed, right behind Cherry. 

“He is good,” Cherry said, still looking in the mirror, trying to avoid Joe’s hungry eyes. Joe wrapped his arms around Cherry’s waist burying his face into his lower back. 

“I’m sure he’s not good at everything though,” Joe said, leaning back and trying to tug Cherry along with him.

“ Kojiro,” Cherry said in a warning tone, but Joe could sense the smile on his lips. He tried to play cool all the time, but Joe knew he wasn’t as much of a bad boy as he claimed. He turned in Joe’s arms, running his hands through the short hair he was trying to grow out. Maybe he was a little inspired by Cherry’s flowing locks, but who could blame him?

“Like, he probably can’t pick up his boyfriend in his arms with ease,” Joe said, looking up at Cherry. Cherry’s face went red at that.

“I told you not to call me that,” he said, rolling his eyes. Joe wanted to squeeze tighter, but his grip relaxed. It was better not to make Kaoru feel trapped. If he felt backed into a corner at all, he would ghost him for days. Which is fine. They weren’t  _ actually  _ dating…

“What should I call you?” Joe asked, eyebrows wiggling. 

“Just don’t refer to me,” Cherry said, smirking. 

“Well that’s no fun,” Joe said. “Not even like ‘master’ or anything hot?” Laughter burst out of Cherry in a way he wasn’t used to hearing.

“Please, especially never call me that,” he said, leaning over Joe and forcing his back to the bed. 

“So you didn’t say I could  _ never  _ call you my boyfriend,” Joe countered, the air going out of his lungs as usual when he was looking into Cherry’s molten gold eyes. Cherry chewed on the inside of his cheek, considering his response. Joe knew that look all too well - the formulation of another excuse, another way to keep his hopes up.

“Annoying,” Cherry finally murmured, pressing a kiss to Joe’s lips instead of responding.

Joe didn’t think about Adam much after that. 

It wasn’t until he started to see how Cherry’s eyes lit up around Adam that Joe started to feel a knot in his chest. He was completely used to other people hitting on Cherry. It was a daily occurrence. He had his own growing group of admirers himself. It just came with the skating territory. Joe liked to play along, but Cherry was always aloof, never giving anyone the time of day. 

Adam was the first time he’d ever seen Cherry look at somebody with anything other than contempt. Joe occasionally got the doe eyes from him on days he was feeling extra affectionate, but he really thought he was the one and only person who could coax it out of him. But watching Adam catch Cherry with ease as they skated away from the cops certainly didn’t make Joe feel like he stood a chance.

“Are you okay?” Adam asked, in his typically brooding and mysterious tone. Cherry looked shocked, but entranced. 

“Fine, just lost my balance,” Cherry said, continuing to stare before he realized how strange it must look and stepped away, brushing off nonexistent dirt from his pants.

Joe froze, wondering what his role in Cherry’s life even was at this point. He wanted to make sure he was okay too. He wanted to be the one who caught him every time. He wanted Cherry to look at him the way he was looking at Adam right now, who had slipped off his hood.

“Adam, your hood…” Cherry said softly. Joe was transfixed as well. It was the first time he had seen Adam in substantial lighting, the full moon destroying the shadows he was so used to hiding in.

“It’s okay. You guys are special,” Adam said, looking over his shoulder. For a second, Joe felt the pull too, being acknowledged by Adam in such a familiar way. He  _ did  _ feel special. Like he was learning some important, secret knowledge only allowed to a select few. But as quickly as the feeling latched on, it dissipated. Adam was never talking to him. He was there, sure, maybe he wanted him to feel special enough as to not get in his way, but he was always talking to Cherry.

Joe couldn’t see his face, but he knew Cherry was captivated by the way he couldn’t even respond. 

After that, Joe started noticing the little things about Adam that made him dangerous.

At first, he had chalked it up to his stupid jealousy. Maybe he was being over-sensitive to every joke and jab, every time he did something reckless but pulled it off with ease. Maybe he was just jealous because he couldn’t skate like that.

But he’d always known that he wasn’t the best skater in the world. Why did this feel so different? He was used to Cherry being competitive, but he really didn’t take it personally. Something about Adam’s competitive spirit kept Joe on edge.

“Mon Cherry, I can tell you’re getting better,” Adam said. They stood at the end of the S route, shouts reverberating through the abandoned metal structure. Stupid pet names. And Cherry reacted as if he’d never punched Joe for saying something so cheesy. Adam laced his fingers through Cherry’s, grinning as if he had created Cherry himself.

“That was amazing,” Joe said, trying to match the enthusiasm, but it came out as more of a sarcastic comment. Cherry winning some random beef wasn’t anything new.

“I guess some of us are just meant to be great,” Adam said, never taking his eyes off Cherry, but clearly directing his words towards Joe. 

“When are you finally going to let me skate with you?” Cherry asked, ignoring everything that had been said prior. Adam chuckled at that. Oh they skated all the time, sure, but Adam rarely participated in beefs. And he’d never so much as suggested it to Cherry or Joe, even though they’d been practically inseparable for months now. 

“Don’t worry about that,” Adam said, dodging the question altogether, bringing a hand to Cherry’s cheek. Joe felt the knot in his chest tighten like a tourniquet. But Cherry looked stunned, at least as stunned as Joe had ever seen him. He wasn’t used to being denied any challenge. But he didn’t push it any further.

“Is there something wrong with the sauce?” Joe asked later, watching Cherry twirl spaghetti on his fork for two whole minutes without trying to eat it. “Too much basil?” 

“What? Oh, no… It’s fine,” he said, finally bringing it to his mouth and chewing. “Really good, actually,” he added, still sounding a million miles away. 

“Guess it’s one thing I’m good at,” Joe said, looking down at his own barely touched plate. Cherry set his fork down, sighing.

“Are you really going to take anything Adam says that personally?” Cherry asked. Man, he couldn’t hide anything from him.

“It’s not about him,” Joe said. “I mean it is, but.” 

“That’s just how he is, don’t take it so seriously,” Cherry said, now tapping his fork against the plate. He couldn’t even look Joe in the eye.

“What’s so special about him, anyway? He won’t even skate with you!”

Cherry’s tapping stopped dead. He’d hit a nerve and regretted it instantly.

“Maybe he’s right,” Cherry said. It would have hurt less if he’d just slapped him.

“About what? That I’m a loser who can’t skate and shouldn’t be following you around like a lost puppy hoping you’ll finally change your mind?” Joe said, his voice wavering far more than anticipated. Did he really care this much about somebody who couldn’t give two shits about him on most days? Cherry stared at him, eyes wide.

“That’s not what I was talking about at all,” he said, his voice almost a whisper. “I meant that I wasn’t good enough to skate him.” He definitely couldn’t meet his eyes now. Joe was almost as shocked by Cherry’s admission of inferiority as he was by his own density.

“I didn’t… Jesus, that’s,” Joe wanted to run. Is this how Cherry felt all the time? On edge? 

“But if that’s how you feel,” Cherry said, his voice tightening with every word. Joe had never seen him like this - actually upset.

“What the hell are you talking about? You know exactly how I feel all the time! That’s my curse. I can’t shut the fuck up,” Joe said, wanting so badly to reach out, but equally annoyed that Cherry was actually showing an ounce of emotion for once in the worst way possible.

“I’m sorry,” Cherry said after a moment had passed. “I’m sorry I can’t be like you.”

“I don’t  _ want  _ you to be like me,” Joe said, frustration bubbling up even as he tried to tamp it down. This was some kind of progress. They usually didn’t talk like this, this deeply. They usually weren’t doing much talking at all. 

“Look, I know I suck at this. I know I’m not a good…” Cherry started.  _ Boyfriend?  _ No, don’t hope for such a thing, it’ll only make it hurt more.

“Maybe this isn’t…” Joe couldn’t say anything either. It was hard to break up with somebody you were never even with.

After that night, they didn’t see much of each other. A flash of pink the hallway, a moment of locked eyes as they skated home in different directions. Mostly they saw each other at “S,” but only from afar. If Cherry wasn’t with Adam, he was alone too. 

“Adam’s skating tonight!” 

“Really, it’s been forever! I bet he’s even better now.”

“He was kind of scary last time though. I wouldn’t want to beef with him!”

“Well, that’s because you suck.”   
“So do you!”

The chatter around Adam was always the hottest topic at “S.” Everyone was equal parts intrigued and freaked out by him. It was true though. He’d almost put somebody in the hospital during his last beef. Joe couldn’t help but think about Cherry every time though. He knew he could hold his own, but he still didn’t want him getting hurt. Adam knew how to coax skaters to the edge, to do things they never would have in their right minds. 

“I just don’t understand why you’d beef with a nobody.” Joe jumped at the sound of Cherry’s voice somewhere close. He looked to see him and Adam standing close near the rocky wall.

“I can see his potential,” Adam said. Cherry looked angry this time rather than hurt. 

“So what am I to you? Forever a rookie?” Cherry asked, his voice rising above the general din. 

“It’s different,” Adam said. “It makes me feel something.” Finally, the mask was slipping. Joe couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation, as everyone seemed to be getting more riled up. He could see both Cherry and Adam’s faces, Cherry’s animated and Adam’s passive. Eventually they split up, Adam advancing to the starting line and Cherry pushing through the crowd, bumping into Joe without even realizing.

“Kaoru?” Joe asked, trying to raise his voice. 

“Fuck off!” Cherry said, not even looking back. Joe didn’t take it personally. He would have said that to anyone.

He couldn’t imagine what had set him off though. Adam looked calm as ever, his foot on his board, looking as if he might just yawn. It filled Joe with a rage he couldn’t comprehend. He was surrounded by people who had spent their entire lives and free time just to get better at skating, to have fun with their peers and make a name for themselves. And most of them would never get farther than this shitty track. Meanwhile, assholes like Adam could have everyone else worshipping the ground they walked on. It sucked. It wasn’t fair.

He knew exactly what Cherry was feeling in that moment. To not be good enough, but to want to prove otherwise so badly. But Cherry was more than good enough. Adam’s game had no rhyme or reason. Who gave a fuck what he thought? Apparently, everyone.

Joe got close enough to watch Adam and his contender shoot off from the starting line. He didn’t recognize the other kid, but he kept pace with Adam surprisingly enough, even passing him on one of the curves. Joe was definitely rooting for this guy.

“Jesus, he’s close to the edge!”

“What is he doing?”

“He’s going to push him off!”

Everyone crowded around the main screen as the beef devolved as quickly as it began. Injuries were commonplace in an underground skating arena, of course. Everyone knew the risk. But, at least until Adam, there was some semblance of shared courtesy, like the idea that running your opponent off the edge of a sheer dropoff was frowned upon. 

They watched in horror and some excitement as the young skater lost his balance fell off the side of the dropoff. It wasn’t a huge drop, but at the speed they were going, it didn’t look great. But even worse was seeing Adam continue on, face blank after he had essentially pushed somebody off of a cliff. He’d won already, but he had something to prove.

“Jesus christ,” Joe said, immediately looking for Cherry in the crowd. It could have been him. It could have been any of them. 

There was enough doubt though that nobody could say for certain it was foul play, at least not in this world, where the rules were loose anyway and excitement was welcome, even if it was at the cost of somebody’s ability to skate ever again.

Joe couldn’t get that night out of his head. He wanted to talk to Cherry, to make sure he wasn’t going to be stupid enough to keep trying to compete against Adam, but he couldn’t make himself. It wasn’t his business anymore what Cherry did or didn’t do. He knew exactly how that conversation would go.

And the worst part was that he knew that would make him a hypocrite. Even though he knew, deep down, he could never measure up to Adam’s skill, he too wanted to beat him. Maybe his reasons were more shallow than Cherry’s, but it was true. He’d never wanted to take anyone down a peg this much in his entire life.

But if Adam wouldn’t even beef with Cherry, Joe knew he’d never get the opportunity. Invitation only.

Joe didn’t have to wonder for very long how things were going between Adam and Cherry though.

“I haven’t seen you around much,” Cherry said, unexpectedly after class. 

“I mean,” Joe started, not knowing what else to say. Cherry looked almost bashful. Joe realized his arm was in a sling.

“What the hell happened to you?” Joe asked, unable to stop from sounding genuinely worried. Cherry looked away. Joe’s mind entered worst-possible-scenario territory. “What the fuck did he do?”

“Who?” Cherry asked, knowing exactly who.

“Fucking Adam, who else? Did he do something to you?” Joe asked, realizing how close he’d gotten, handing hovering over Cherry’s arm, as if he could heal it just by staring extra hard. His mind played the scene of the kid at “S” falling on a loop.

“It’s fine, it’s not actually broken,” Cherry said, but didn’t deny Adam’s involvement. He looked tired, more than usual. 

“Okay, what happened?” Joe asked, feeling like red mist might come pouring out of his eyes. 

“He’s really going to get somebody hurt,” Cherry said, still evading the question. 

“No shit, he has already. Multiple times,” Joe said, rubbing his temples. “What does everyone see in that guy?”  _ What do  _ you _ see in him? _

“Have dinner with me tonight,” Cherry said, sheepishly, looking at his feet. 

“Dinner?” The topic change made Joe’s head spin.

“Jesus, do I have to spell it out?” Cherry asked, cheeks getting redder.

“My god, you couldn’t last like two weeks without me?” Joe asked, trying his hardest not to grin. But it felt nice to be chased a little for once.

“I’m almost sorry I asked,” Cherry said.

“Almost? I’ll take it,” Joe said, brushing a lock of hair out of Cherry’s beet red face. For once, he didn’t yell at him. In fact, he looked relieved. 

They headed to their favorite ramen spot that night, sitting side by side at the counter.

“He did this weird… thing. Like he stopped and came back at me with open arms. I didn’t know what to do, so I just bailed instead,” Cherry said, recounting the reason for his injury. That sounded like Adam. It was either collide or get hurt some other way. A double-edged sword. You can only hope you made the less painful choice.

“Just a sprain, but…” Cherry trailed off then slurped some noodles. 

“Not to be that guy, but this is nice,” Joe said.

“What? That I almost broke my arm?” Cherry asked, but laughed. 

“No. I mean, Adam is a freak, sure. That’s not cool. But just talking like this,” Joe said. Cherry narrowed his eyes at that, tilting his head.

“You know, just talking! Being, like, normal,” Joe said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“You’re really digging a hole here,” Cherry said, but took Joe’s hand in his. 

“See, we just don’t talk, like, we just… you know. And maybe if we talked  _ more  _ it would make things easier,” Joe said, still not even sure of what he was trying to say. Did he even want to open that can of worms again? Couldn’t they just be friends? Cherry’s hand in his made him think perhaps not.

“I’m okay with that,” Cherry said without pause.

“I won’t try to get you to label it or anything,” Joe said. “I know you’re not into that.” 

“We can… talk about it,” Cherry said, his thumb running over Joe’s knuckles. Well, that was something new at least.

“So Adam? He’s not like… anything to you?” Joe asked, needing to know. Maybe he’d blown it but he couldn’t keep tiptoeing around.

“Maybe at one point I felt something,” Cherry said. “But then I kept thinking about you.”

“I do tend to have that effect,” Joe said, trying to play it cool when his heart was beating faster than he’d ever felt before. 

“And as annoying as you are,” Cherry said. Ouch, he always knew how to humble a guy. “You, um,” he cleared his throat. This was probably the most open he’d ever been with anybody. Maybe it was still too early to say the “L” word, but god if Joe didn’t feel like whipping it out right then and there. But he couldn’t scare him off yet.

“At the moment, I can’t imagine being with anybody else,” Cherry said, finally. It was probably the least romantic phrasing possible, but he might as well have given Joe a bouquet of roses.

“I know you have a thing about PDA, but I really want to kiss you right now,” Joe said. If they were going to be better at communicating, he was going to start now. Cherry looked around, as if considering it.

“Well, let’s pay for this first,” he said, but snuck a quick kiss on Joe’s neck. He was making this so difficult.

“So you’re done trying to beef with Adam?” Joe asked, again, not really wanting to change the topic, but knowing it would eat away at him if he didn’t ask.

“Hell no, I want to kick that guy’s ass,” Cherry said simply. “If he doesn’t think I’m good enough to skate him, then I’ll prove him wrong.” Joe could understand that. And he knew Cherry could be better than Adam. He already was in every other way.

“Alright, I guess I’d better get training then,” Joe said.

“For what?”

“Well, you’re not the only one who wants to show him up!”

“Don’t copy me!” Cherry said, only half annoyed. “Besides, you’d have to at least beat  _ me  _ first,” he added. Sure, he had a point.

“Enough about that, let’s get out of here,” Joe said, scooping Cherry up unceremoniously in bridal style. Cherry on any other day would have beat the shit out of him for embarrassing him so publicly, but today’s Cherry let it slide, only protesting until they reached the door. 

“Don’t tell me you’re about to carry me all the way home,” Cherry said, sounding sleepy and not totally opposed to it.

“I would if you asked,” Joe said. Cherry was quiet for a moment.

“I know you would, but I’ve got legs,” he said, kissing Joe quickly before hopping out of his arms. “And I’ll race you.” Joe rolled his eyes.

“In that sling?” he asked. 

“Come on, loser!” Cherry said, setting his board down. 

“Okay, well if you fall, I’m not catching you,” Joe said, catching up. 

“I know that’s a lie,” Cherry said, kicking off to lead again. Yeah, it definitely was a lie.


End file.
